The movie Robert De Niro wouldn’t make without Martin Scorsese: “I couldn’t understand Bob’s obsession”
Robert De Niro has worked with some of the best directors to have ever held a camera. He appeared in Sergio Leone’s masterful epic Once Upon a Time in America, just a year prior to his appearance in Terry Gilliam’s cult classic, Brazil. Whether for Brian De Palma in The Untouchables, Michael Mann in Heat, or David O Russell in Silver Linings Playbook, the icon always gives his all. But come on, you can’t talk about De Niro and directors without mentioning his best buddy in the whole wide world.
Beginning in 1973 with Mean Streets, the partnership between De Niro and Martin Scorsese has produced some of the greatest films in history. Their second movie together was Taxi Driver, a violent ode to the nihilism of post-Vietnam America. Since then, they’ve churned out gangster classics like Goodfellas and Casino, tense thrillers like Cape Fear and Killers of the Flower Moon, and even a musical, New York, New York. Not bad for the so-called ‘barbarians’ of cinema.
Another iconic entry in the legacy of film’s most Italian-American bromance is 1980’s Raging Bull. The story of legendary boxer Jake LaMotta (De Niro), the film tells the tale of the star fighter’s turbulent life in and out of the ring. Shot gorgeously in black and white, the film captures the brutality and the cerebralness of the sport like few others. Rocky may be the definitive boxing film for many, but Raging Bull might be the most complete.
The movie came into being when its star read LaMotta’s autobiography while he was making The Godfather Part II. He became enamoured with the former middleweight champion and was desperate to play him, but on one condition. He knew that Scorsese was the only man capable of bringing the story to life. If Marty wasn’t in, then neither was he.
De Niro went to his friend many times with the idea, but was constantly turned down. Scorsese had never been into any sport, let alone boxing, so he was confused as to why LaMotta’s story appealed so much to his muse. Things changed following an ill-fated trip to the Telluride Film Festival. The event, which is situated high in the Rocky Mountains, almost proved fatal for the director. A combination of high altitude, asthma, an intense cocaine habit, and a busy work schedule meant that, upon his return to New York, Scorsese collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
It was here that De Niro made one final appeal regarding Raging Bull. Maybe he was still suffering from altitude sickness, maybe he had finally been worn down, but this time, Scorsese said yes. “I couldn’t understand Bob’s obsession with it until, finally, I went through that rough period of my own,” Scorsese told Vanity Fair as part of a retrospective on the movie. “I came out the other side and woke up one day alive … still breathing.”
Of course, Scorsese did go on to direct Raging Bull, and of course, it became a huge hit. It was nominated for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ at the Oscars, winning De Niro ‘Best Actor’ for what he called the most challenging role of his career. A masterpiece by anyone’s standards, it’s crazy to think that it took Scorsese almost dying to say yes to making one of the defining films of his oeuvre.
